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I motion my thumb in the direction of the bathroom and walk away quickly before I do or say something I might regret. My heels loudly clack against the hard-tiled flooring,
Feeling the heat of his gaze warming my back, I push the door open and gasp in shock, momentarily taken aback at the luxury I am about to dip into. Overflowing with bubbles, the bathroom is filled with dozens of tiny lit candles in glass jars, casting dancing shadows over the tiled walls. The smell of essential oils from them fills the air with a sweet, fresh scent, making me feel like I’m in a spa.
I lay my wineglass on the bath caddy tray that has a built-in space to hold it. Picking up one of the many lily flowers from the lip of the bath, I pull it to my nose. It’s not real, but smells like lavender.
“It’s soap.” Ash appears in the doorway and leans against it. “The lilies. They are soap flowers.”
“I’ve never seen anything like these before.” I rub the soft, realistic petals infused with soap between my fingers. “They feel real.”
“Enjoy. Dinner will be ready in an hour.” Ash pulls the door toward him, sealing me inside my mini retreat.
This is wild and wonderful, but why is he here?
I scratch my head. The tight bun I’ve had all day has given me a tension headache and my scalp is screaming at me to unravel it. I pull out the elastic band and bobby pins before I fluff out my hair. I can almost hear my hair follicles singing with relief as I give them a rub.
Stripping out of my clothes, I fold everything neatly, place them on top of the laundry basket, and step into the bubble bath, letting the hot water relax my bones, my muscles unwinding as my body basks in this indulgent, calming soak in the tub.
I pull a petal off one of the lilies and submerge it in the water to activate the soap, coating my arms in the lavender perfume, and then I take a huge mouthful of wine. The alcohol provides a gentle buzz, relaxing me more and sending me into a state of bliss.
I hold up another of the petals. “Where did he get these from?” I ask myself. A shock of joy has my heart swooning.
Why is he being so nice to me? There is no revenge or hate toward me. He should be angry, cutting up my clothes and stuffing them into garbage bags, shouldn’t he? Although that’s not who Ash is. He’s always been kind-hearted and caring, but I assumed we would have at least one shouting match after I left. It’s what they do in the movies.
But it’s been radio silence from him until today.
Ash is not one for rocking the boat. We have very rarely ever argued. We squabble from time to time but are talking to one another again within minutes. On those occasions, I think that’s down to me being unaccustomed to him living in the house and disrupting my routine. And while Ash is tidy, my one big pet peeve is leaving wet towels on the bed and wearing boxers with holes in them. Throw them out, Ash. Oh, that’s two, although I do have a third. Not washing the blender after he makes a protein shake in the morning when he’s around. And why does he feel the need to swear excessively when he comes home from work? Being around a group of testosterone-filled men who throw F-bombs blindly all day limits Ash’s vocabulary considerably. Fuck appeared to be the only word he knew when he stubbed his toe on the end of the bed several weeks ago. I found it hilarious when he fell onto the bed in pain, but using the F-word a dozen times was an overreaction, in my opinion.
And oops, that’s four pet peeves. What can I say, I've gotten very used to living alone a lot of the time.
Because of Ash’s good nature, we’ve never had a full-blown fight. And I’m discounting the time I completely lost my cool when he bought a Mario Kart twin driving arcade machine which cost him, sorry us, fifty thousand dollars. My flip out was totally justified; it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a game. Although Buster and Leon disagreed and bought one for the bar. I’m surrounded by grown, athletic men who act like children, find fun and laughter in everything, and have no intention of growing up.
I smile at that. Ash and I have a wonderful friendship circle.
It’s such a shame we don’t see them more often.
Which reminds me… I lean over to grab my phone out of the pocket of my coat, splashing water and bubbles all over the cream tiled floor and leaving dark watermarks on the fabric of my overcoat.
I snap a photo of my luxurious tub time, wiggling my toes to break through the bubbles, and set up a new group chat, adding Gemma who couldn’t change her plane ticket to come home, Kourtney, Candy, and Bree, and send the photo.
Candy:
Looks lush.
Bree:
Oh, I am having one of those later. That looks incredible.
Me:
Ash is here in the apartment. He ran me a bath and is cooking dinner.
Kourtney:
He’s there now?
Me:
Yeah. He was here when I got home from work.
